Friday, January 29, 2010

For next Wednesday, you are to have signed up for a free Second Life avatar and build something with no less than 10 prims.http://www.secondlife.com

Join and start looking around this vast virtual community for possible locations for our film.

Here are a few tutorials for building: (ok, some of those who have made these tutorials are really dorky - good skills herein nonetheless!) The tutorials within Second Life are very helpful as well on the welcome islands. You will need to spend some quality time in Second Life to get the hang of it!

Here are some places to visit in Second Life that might be interesting for locations and just worth looking at: (use the machines in the lab or at the Knowledge Center unless you have a very fast machine and a great internet connection at home as these are generally some very "prim" heavy regions that will lag on you on slower machines and connections).

Thursday, January 21, 2010

READ - "The Machine Stops" 1909 by E.M. ForsterWATCH - "THX1138" on reserve at the Knowledge Center. (I will be getting my DVD copy to the library this afternoon - there is a copy on VHS at the library currently available - could be interesting to watch this one if you like as it is the earlier version before George Lucas went back and added quite a few digital additions to the film - a bit controversial actually among hard core fans of the film).

Course Description:In this class we will critically engage computer games and online communities as locations for creative artistic production. The student will be introduced both to the history and theory of computer games and online communities as relevant to experimental contemporary art while at the same time being challenged with a semester long collaborative project which will further develop methods and concepts to engage in creative, studio production in these new contexts.

The goals of this course include creating a problem-solving atmosphere towards engaging in creative and critical “play” - approaching computer gaming and online communities as the locations for conceptual exploration and personal creative growth. The intent is to provide the student with the ability to work with a variety of ideas, processes and techniques towards the production of innovative game based artworks.

1. The objective is to establish a creative and structured studio art environment, both in the classroom and online, through the execution of an ambitious collaborative project to make a feature length machinima based on the classic science fiction short story “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster. This semester’s offering of this course is uniquely oriented towards the collaborative production of a feature-length film. In such an environment it is key that all students are deeply involved in all aspects of production. Each student will be individually assessed according to his or her contribution to the class project. As the course moves forward, we will first work to create a timeline for the realistic production of the various elements that will go together to create our film. We will then work in smaller groups or as individuals on specific aspects of the overall production. 2. Lecture/Lab Component:The course will meet for three lecture hours per week. Class time will be devoted to lectures, demonstrations, reading discussions, productions sessions and critiques. Students are required to work at minimum an additional 6 hours per week of work outside of the scheduled class times (studio production, reading assignments, etc.) Course Requirements:1) Attendance is mandatory at all scheduled class meetings. More than three unexcused absences will affect your final grade. Please arrive on time and prepared to participate in all course activities.

2) Participation in all class critiques, reading discussions and brainstorming sessions is expected and mandatory.

3) You will receive a written evaluation and letter grade at mid-term and after the completion of the project at the end of the semester.

4) Your final grade will be determined according to the following formula: class project 60%, class participation 25%, lecture reviews 15%. I will meet with each of you individually at the midterm to discuss your progress in the class and provide advising regarding the Digital Media program.

5) Each student is REQUIRED to attend two approved lectures and one exhibition or film screening, that are regularly announced in class. I will provide you with a list of approved lectures/screenings/exhibitions both on campus and off. You are required to write a short, one page critical summary of the event and two questions to ask the speaker (extra credit will be given to those who actually ask their question at the event!). There are three specific events oriented towards the digital media area that I recommend you attend this semester - I will go over these in class.

Readings/Screenings: -Reading assignments will be both online and in the form of various Xeroxed articles.-Screenings, a number of films will be placed on reserved in the Knoweldge Center, these are required for viewing and will be assigned as the course goes forward.

SuppliesGaming software and online subscriptions (to be discussed)Firewire Portable External Hard Drive – we will discuss this in class.

AccessYou will be assigned a digital access code for after-hours access to the Digital Media Studio by the end of the second week of the term. Intermediate and advanced Digital Media students have 24-hour access to the lab in exchange for monitoring the facility and assisting with beginning students working in the lab.

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About Me

Joseph DeLappe is an artist, educator and researcher at the Department of Art at the University of Nevada where he runs the Digital Media area. Working with electronic and new media since 1983, his work in online gaming performance, electromechanical installation and real-time web-based video transmission have been shown throughout the United States and abroad. In 2004 he re-enacted all three nationally televised Presidential Debates between John Kerry and George Bush in online games - Battlefield Vietnam, Star Wars Jedi Knight Outcast and Sims Online, respectively. In 2006 he began a work-in-progress enacted a project dead-in-iraq, to type consecutively, all names of America’s military casualties from the war in Iraq into the America’s Army FPS online recruiting game. His work was recently featured in the exhibition Gameworld at the Laboral Centro de Arte y Creacion Industrial in Gijon, Spain and published in the recently released books, Gamescenes: Art in the Age of Videogames, publisher Johan & Levi and Videogames and Art, publisher Intellect Books. Website http://www.delappe.net